THE flARDENERg CHRONICLE. 



[Jolt 6, 



— 



i^erie^ which if not so splendid is wonderfully beautiful, 

 and not less interesting from the early reminiscences it 

 often awakens in the mind. Who has not, in his youth, 

 heheld with astonishment and delight the refined and 

 beautiful light of the Glow-worm ? Who has not con- 

 templated with admiration these little animals sparkling 

 on a bank, or scattered like living gems amongst the 

 brushwood ? And not nnfrequently have I seen them 

 bedecking some rustic boy's hat, as he returned late from 

 the harvest-field, «■ whistling as he went, forwanto 

 thought !" Such are the agreeable pictures and de ightful 

 associations which are hourly presented by Mtureto 

 those who are so fortunate as to take pleasure in explor- 

 ing her pleasant and peaceful ways. 



The Baron De Gear ascertained that the pup* posses 

 the phosphorescent qualities of the larva and imago, but 

 in a less degree; the larva? have been observed shining 

 » ea y as Mar e ch and as late as the middle of November ;* 

 but the females are most brilliant in July and August 

 The light is evidently increased by excitement, and the 

 animal has the remarkable power of reviving or extin- 

 guishing its lamp at pleasure. The Glow-worms he in 

 the most profound repose during the day, and only 

 become active on the approach of night, when the males 

 fly in search of the females, guided by their brilliancy. 

 J have observed that the males sometimes emit a glimmer, 

 and they have been attracted in considerable numbers by 

 the light of a candle. It appears that Mr. Dale took 40 

 In this wav in one night ; yet few persons have seen the 

 males. They may, however, be captured by placing a 

 female Glow-worm in the hand at night, in localities 

 inhabited by them, when the male will often -come to her. 

 The female lays a great number of eggs, which are 

 attached by their glutinous surface to the Grass or 

 herbage where they live \ they are very large, compared 

 with the bulk of the insect, being, according to De Geer, 

 as large as Turnip-seeds ; they are round, and of a citron- 

 yellow colour. The larvtc, when full-grown, form a 

 cocoon, I believe, which is only a soft and flexible skin, 

 and very fragile; in this state they remain 14 days, 

 during which period they are deprived of locomotion. 

 The perfect insects walk very slowly, and when touched 

 withdraw their heads and remain motionless for a long 

 time. De Geer savs that they lire upon fresh earth, and 

 Professor Henslow" has ascertained that the larvae feed 

 upon snails, having kept two which lived upon them for 

 three weeks in September, during which time they shone 

 very brightly. On examining the mouths of the Glow- 

 worm and its larva, it is at once evident that their 

 economy must be very different; it is clear that the 

 former is not carnivorous, whilst the formidable man- 

 dibles of the latter are admirably suited for such a mode 

 of subsistence ; in this respect the Lampyris approaches 

 Drilus flavescens.f whose female resides in shells, and 

 feeds upon the snails. 



femalei The^7^ resembles the larva * but lt is curved ' 



and the antenna and legs are inclosed in membranous 

 sheaths, so that the animal is unable to walk.— Runcola. 



"I * 



* * 



The Glow-worm, which only inhabits the north of 

 Europe, received from Linnaeus the name of Lampyris 

 noctiluca : the male is winged, of an ochreous-brown or 

 smoky colour, thickly punctured and clothed with very 

 short* pubescence ; the head is concealed beneath the 

 shield-like thorax, which is Bemi-circular, the margin 

 projecting and slightly reflexed ; the organs of manduca- 

 tion are small ; the antennae are short and 11-jointed; 

 the eyes are large, black, and approximating beneath ; 

 the elytra are elliptical and completely cover the abdo- 

 men ; the wings are very ample and folded beneath the 

 elytra in repose; they are pale fuscous, with various 

 brown nervures : the sides of the abdomen are serrated, 

 with two phosphorescent spots on the penultimate seg- 

 ment, beneath : the six legs are moderately long ; the 

 tibite simple ; the tarsi five-jointed, the three basal joints 

 short, fourth biiobed, fifth slender, clavate, and furnished 

 with two small claws, (fig. 1, magnified); the cross-lines 

 exhibit the natural expansion of the male flying. The 

 female is long and apterous, a little broadest at the 

 middle, of a reddish-brown colour; the head small and 

 mostly concealed, but it is visible when the animal is in 

 action; the eyes are smaller than in the male; the 

 antennae are similar ; the thorax is larger and resembles 

 the other sex, but the margin is more opaque ; the second 

 thoracic segment is short and narrow, and, with the 

 third, has a somewhat transparent orange spot at each 

 posterior angle : four terminal segments, cream-colour 

 or ochreous beneath, and phosphorescent ; the six legs 

 are shorter and stouter than those of the male, (fig. 2, 

 the natural size). The larva is similar to the female, but 

 is often much smaller when young ; it is, however, when 

 full grown, an inch long ; the mouth is furnished with a 

 pair of longish, exceedingly acute jaws, which are curved 

 and cross each other, together with palpi, &c. : all the 

 12 abdominal segments have an ochreous or orange spot 

 on each posterior angle ; the six legg are short, and ter- 

 minated by single claws. The minute horns, differently 

 formed legs, and spotted sides of the body, independently 

 of the mouth, readily distinguish the larvae from the 



* Curtis'* Brit. Ent. fol. 698. 



f Curtis's Brit. Ent., pi. 6°8, for the dissection*, &c. 



THE ROSE-GARDEN.— No. XIII. 



{Continued from page 399 ) 



March Pruning.— -In places where the plants are much 

 exposed, this cutting-in may be delayed occasionally even 

 to the 15th of April, which will remove the inconvenience 

 and injury that the delicate sort may suffer from pushing 

 too early, and subsequent cold after pruning. During 

 the month of March, early or late, according to the 

 season, the operation of depriving the shoots of the wild 

 stocks of their useless wood takes place ; and from this 

 date the return for all previous labours is commenced. 



One eye being left beyond— that is, nearer the summit 

 of each branch than the bud placed upon it— the remain- 

 der of the wild branch is to be removed ; and if there be 

 any of the stem of the tree above the highest wild shoot, 

 that also may be cut off close to the base of the shoot, 

 slanting, as at first directed, and the live wood now ex- 

 posed is to be defended with the mixture before given— 

 unless, indeed, immediate appearance is of no import- 

 ance, or the application of the mixture be considered too 

 troublesome, on which latter case the incision should be 

 made when the flow of sap is at its full, or delayed till 



the following spring. 



Sap-bud.— Upon the single bud lefc at the end ot the 

 wild branch the strength of the expected shoot greatly 

 depends. The inserted bud, though almost sure to grow, 

 is not incorporated with the tree itself; for, if a branch 

 of a tree in its natural state be broken off, part of the 

 tree will come off with it ; pot so a bud placed in the 

 branch— it will come off as if it had been merely stuck on. 

 The sap, therefore, does not quite so readily flow to it, 

 and must be drawn up by a leading bud, not actually as 

 a matter of necessity (though it almost amounts to it), 

 but as a means of increasing success. The desideratum 

 is to put the sap in motion, and establish its action by 

 means of the leading bud ; and when the inserted buds 

 are fit to perform their part, to transfer the supply of 

 the leader to them. The sap, in the present instance, 

 may be considered as a vessel on the water, which 

 requires some force to propel it, but when once set in 

 motion, unless a severe check be experienced, its own 

 weight will keep it so. It is true that the inserted bud 

 will start without the assistance of the leader, but this is 

 not always to be depended upon, and the final result far 

 less so. The destruction of the leader of a tree dis- 

 organises for the time the whole vegetable economy. If 

 the leaders of some trees be stopped, they will form half 

 a dozen or more equal growing branches, each perform- 

 ing its quota of the part of the original leader ; and if 

 the leader of a creeper be destroyed, the accumulating 

 sap sets to work the buds half way down the plant, and 

 the produce being multiplied, the size of it is diminished. 

 It may here be remarked that the capability of the tree, 

 if in health, is much more than sufficient to support what 

 is desired of it this season ; if, therefore, under an im- 

 pression that the tree will be weakened by wasting itself 

 in wild produce, the sap- bud be not left, the plant will 

 obstinately persist in showing buds at the sides of the 

 stem, and after making a feeble shoot from the inserted 

 bud, and this with a considerable delay, it will finish its 

 first season with a head, not more than equal to one from 

 a bud with a pushing eye of the same year. 



In these cases the tree vegetates weakly for a season 

 or two, and generally dies. The destruction of the sap- 

 bud was once an error very prevalent in English nur- 

 series, and accounted in a great measure for the infe- 

 riority and unhealthiness of their standards, but it is 

 now generally rectified. 



A tree planted with a dormant bud upon it, and little 

 root, will frequently, if deprived of its sap-buds, hang 

 back until the sap be powerfully collected, and break out 

 a knot below the inserted bud, which will then commence 

 and continue to progress with the wild one, which, 

 although the lowest of the two, should not, under these 

 circumstances, be knocked off (provided the other con- 

 tinues to increase), until it arrive at the same state of 

 forwardness as directed for the sap-buds, when the 

 inserted bud being ready to take up the nourishment, the 

 wild shoot may be removed. 



In all cases where the tree refuses to break above, the 

 formation of suckers may be apprehended, particularly 

 from clump roots, which renders it very desirable that 

 the root should be properly trimmed at first planting. 

 The wild bud should be left to push till it has got two or 

 three pair of leaves, and then stopped by nipping off 

 the point with the finger and thumb ; the placed bud 

 will then shoot vigorously, and when it is four or five 

 inches long, the sap-bud is to be cut off nearer its base ; 

 it is not desirable to remove it entirely (though it must 

 not be allowed to throw out long side-shoots), but barely 

 left alive, in order to, maintain the bark at the end of 

 the branch, and the succeeding March, or even at Mid- 

 summer, if vigorous, the extraneous wood may be re- 

 moved to the base of the inserted bud, the sap from 

 which will then (if the place be lightly protected with 

 mixture) cover the wound completely. In cases of weak 

 growth, however, the base of the sap-bud may be left 

 with advantage until the succeeding spring, or even 

 summer. 



lt sometimes occurs that the bud of last year's inser- 

 tion is by no means prepared to start ; it looks like a 

 bud at the base of any other plant, hard and immovable ; 

 perhaps two sap-buds have been left, and these, when cut 

 in, again form shoots, which are also stopped without 

 I success, or perhaps on each side of the worked shoots, 

 I, and from the same eye, buds make their appearance 



while the insertion is unchanged. In such cases the 

 shoots should be shortened to one sap-bud, in order to 

 throw the vigour of the plant into the immediate vicinity 

 of the bud ; and the shoots from the Btem of the tree 

 above mentioned, should in general be allowed to p ro . 

 gress, and that part of the plant assisted in its genenl 

 health until the inserted bud begin to vegetate, and the 

 moment it is able to take up the circulation the extra, 

 neous shoots may be reduced as before described. 



A certain quantity of leaves being necessary to keep 

 »very plant ir^ health, it is very desirable that the leavei 



inserted 



of the sap-buds should not be taken off until the . 



bud increases into full vigour ; they afford nourishment to 

 the plant, and take none from it, sustaining >a the vigour 

 of the plant at its extremes. 



It is desirable that some shoot should be free to work 

 at the summit of the plant, which cannot always be the 

 case when only one bud is inserted, which, flowering at 

 its summit, sometimes restrains or stagnates a vigorous 

 plant to a considerable degree. Hence the desideratum 

 of three or four shoots instead of one, the jets from which 

 will find sufficient work for the plant, to allow its flower- 

 ing without injury. This any one who has remarked the 

 capability of supplying nourishment which the wild stem 

 possesses, and is aware of its impatience of stagnation, 

 and speedy withdrawal of its sap, on such occasions, will 

 at once acknowledge. It must be remembered, however, 

 that this benefit will only be derived to such Roses as 

 cannot be made to produce more than a certain quantity 

 of wood, as Smith's Yellow Noisette, &c, whose thick- 

 ened juices seem sometimes scarcely able to open the 

 flowers, but there are many others in which the volume 

 of sap seems assisted by confinement to a single channel. 



No plant is so much benefited by a constant attendance 

 upon its wants, as the standard Rose, the first year after 

 it has been worked ; the demands for which labour, if 

 freely supplied, would far outweigh the value of any 

 plant that could be raised. 



Home Correspondence. 



Asparagus.— On. the 28th of July, 1843, I procured 

 6 cwt. of dirty salt, at Is. per cwt., and applied it to 

 three beds of Asparagus which were three years old. 

 One of the beds had seeds sown in drills at the time it 

 was planted ; both the seed and the two-year old rooti, 

 which I had from Hamburgh, are of the Giant sort; 

 each bed is 12 yards long and 1| yard wide ; 2 cwt. of 

 salt was sown over each ; it destroyed everything that 

 was growing on the bed, except the Asparagus ; the salt 

 remained on the surface until rain washed it in. I then 

 forked the bed well over, and the plants commenced 

 growing and continued luxuriant until November, 

 when the weather was cold and frosty. Strong heads, 

 however, were occasionally produced until CI nstma«, 

 when I cut down the stems to within 12 inches of the 

 ground, and threw out the soil from the alleys on the 

 beds to the depth of about 6 inches ; and in this state 

 they remained until March. I then raked off all the 

 rough clods and stones into the alleys, taking wnh to* 

 the decayed stems, and forked over the beds. Tne _ plant 

 began to'shoot, and continued growing l«™ntly until 

 about a month back, when they all turned ^yellow and 

 presented the appearance of autumn. Thisdestrojett 

 K hopes ; bu P tfon examining the roots wi ^ <** 

 I found out the cause. The plants ab o^ h ^. th ^ 

 was stirred up in the morning had i changed heir cole 

 in the evening. On perceiving this, 1 torKea i 

 the whole length of the bed; next "J™ 10 ^ 1 ^ 

 also changed colour. I then set to work m good earne , 

 and forked all my beds over. The sod ^ 



great clods, down to the very crowns of ^ «o s. p * 

 uu with it several young shoots. I was on 



I 



up 

 the 



stem 



re 



and bad drainage 

 is now 





with it several young snoots. * -« — am0 ngst the 

 clods before they could be *°\to"£Z%* 

 ems ; these clods I pulverised in the all y>, i 

 turned the soil to the beds. Before .pre ^ ^ 

 the beds, however I put four quarts , of Poi and 



infected manure between the four rows oi ? 

 then covered over the bed with the soil , nei ^ 



the stalks were covered all over with an ^ ^ 

 were of a beautiful green. I have jQQti , 



cause of the evil is the exclusion of a r ^iro u9 



d drainage. The average ^^[^^vmOj 

 . „ .. more than 6 feet, and young *$*"$ ^^ 

 being produced, as if it was spring. Foitte 

 is the best fertiliser in dry weather of »J during 

 manures: this I have proved m Mny »■» 8 , but 



this dry summer. I have used it for ton * 

 never before applied it to A.p«gJ«- ^ ^ with IS 

 propose using half the quantity of sal t m j 



-strikes" of sea-sand, fresh from the «« fc , 



dressing of salt once in two years is oft« ^ bc d, 

 destroys all weed, and damps ^f\J n? in M**» 

 are salted as before, and being ^^/ n \n. * ■£ 

 the seedlings are rising luxuriantly since in ^ 



convinced that salt will neither destroy rplan 



S A.p«*«. or Seakale.- Wm. ^"^g Article of * 

 Judges.-Yonr observation, in Leading a elerDCD 



22d inst., that "Fairness mjnd^g ^^ although 



of success 

 unfavourabl 



that "fairness iu j« u 6"'&" --rdg. altno u S" 

 . People are contented with awa $ # t 



ble to them, if they are certain i tbe J g 



.« U«. i n thPtr decisions. *\ ul " fhold* 





pres7ed onThe minds of all ™ n tl^oriX>V« *J 

 particularly of small and proline .a so «* ql 



semblance of nnfairness and «"£»»• { / d \, pruden* 

 ruI es-whetber these deviates be c."s ed U^ 

 malice, or ignorance-are sure to be felt ^ ft £ 



a grievance Several cases corroborating ^ „„*, 

 fime to time, during the last twlw months, 



